US Army Small Ships Section

The US Army Small Ships Section was an improvised civilian fleet that provided logistical support to Allied Operations in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945, more than 4,000 Allied personnel served aboard its vessels.

Organisation

During the Philippines campaign of World War II, the Japanese offensive led to the entrapment of U.S. Forces at Bataan – beyond the reach of assistance from a stretched United States Navy. As the campaign wore on, John Sheridan and Adam Bruce Fahnestock, renowned for the Fahnestock South Sea Expeditions, conceived the idea of improvising a fleet of small to deliver supplies to the American forces in the Philippines. While the amount of cargo and passengers small ships could carry was limited, they could blend in with local traffic and hide among the thousands of islands in the Philippines archipelago. They were from an affluent yachting family, and their acquaintance with President Franklin D. Roosevelt may have played a role in the mission's ultimate authorisation under the codename "Mission X".[1]

The Fahnestocks recruited other crewmen from their previous expeditions, including Dawson "Gubby" Glover, Phil Farley, Bob Wilson, and Ladislaw "Laddie" Reday. Sheridan Fahnestock was commission in the United States Army as a captain, Bruce Fahnestock as a first lieutenant and the others as second lieutenants.[2] Mission X arrived in Melbourne in early March 1942.[3] On 10 March, Brigadier General Arthur R. Wilson, the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, of United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), designated Mission X as the Small Ships Supply Command and appointed Colonel Harry H. Cullins as its commanding officer, answerable directly to the commanding general of USAFIA. The Small Ships Supply Command became responsible for the acquisition, manning and operation of small ships in waters north of Australia.[4]

In early May 1942, Small Ships Supply Command the moved to Sydney, Australia's largest port, where it established its headquarters in the Grace Building, assembling an improvised flotilla at No. 10 Pier in Walsh Bay.[5][6] On 29 May, the Small Ships Supply Command ceased to come under USAFIA and was placed under the theater chief of the Transportation Service, Colonel Thomas B. Wilson, a former head of the Alaska Steamship Company. On 5 June, it was redesignated the Small Ships Section of the Transportation Service. On 15 June, Cullins was succeeded by his executive officer, Major George P. Bradford,[4][7] a former executive with the Everett Steamship Corporation, an American company based in Shanghai before the war.[8] Major Reeford P. Shea was his executive officer until he was succeeded by Major George T. Wright on 16 January 1943. The Small Ships Section headquarters had five branches: personnel; supply; planning and development; construction and refitting; and maintenance and repair.[9]

Ships and personnel

The first Australian recruited for Mission X was Jack Savage, a Melbourne boat builder who owned a shipyard in Williamstown, Victoria. He provided advice on what ships to acquire, and assumed responsibility for their reconstruction and repair.[10] The acquisition of ships was controlled by the Australian Shipping Board. Subject to the approval of the board, the United States Army had the authority to lease, purchase or compulsorily acquire if need be privately owned vessels. Payments were made by the board, and changed to the Reverse Lend-Lease account.[11]

While several types of ships were acquired, the most suitable were seine trawlers. These were diesel-powered, 15-to-20-metre (49 to 66 ft) long, wooden fishing boats, solidly built to withstand the rough waters of the Bass Strait and Tasman Sea. Their hulls were often sheathed in Kauri Pine, which resisted the shipworms that attacked wood in the tropics. They were equipped with heavy-duty winches that allowed them to beach at low tide and unload where there were no wharves, using the winch to pull them off the beach at high tide. They were also ideal for towing barges.[12] Seventeen seine trawlers were acquired. They were stripped, painted battleship grey, and outfitted with machine guns.[13]

Other ships acquired included the Argosy Lemal, a three-masted schooner that was fitted out as a communications ship, as was the ketch Harold. The Hilda Norling was a two-masted crayfish ketch with a copious hold. The Mactan was a freighter converted to a hospital ship that had escaped from the Philippines with a crew that consisted mostly of Filipinos, many of whom could not speak English.[14] The Kurimarua was a Lever Brothers ship crewed by four Europeans and eighteen Solomon Islanders.[15] The Masaya was a Clemson-class destroyer converted to a freighter.[16] Not part of the Small Ships Section but often working with them were the 21 Dutch freighters of 1,213 to 9,312 tons of the Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM) that were chartered by the US Army.[17]

When ships were taken up, their crews were offered employment with the Small Ships Section. Others were recruited. Most of the crews were Australians; at least twenty sailors were Aboriginal Australians or Torres Strait Islanders. Under an agreement with the Australian government, Australian citizens could be hired as sailors if they were male and aged between 15 and 17 years old, over 45, or 18 to 45 but with a medical exemption from military service. Seamen were hired on six-month contracts that specified that they would be required to serve in New Guinea. If their service was deemed satisfactory, the contract could be extended for another six months.[18] Crews were issued with the uniform of the US Army Transport Service, but normally wore civilian clothes when aboard their ships. They were paid at US Army rates, which were higher than Australian rates. Although the ships flew the US flag, few were US registered vessels.[19]

In addition to ships' crews, the Small Ships Section also recruited skilled tradesmen such as carpenters, mechanics and shipwrights to maintain the ships. The US Army's normal practice was to hire workers through local trade unions, but since these workers would be located in northern Australia in places subject to Japanese air raids and union rules prohibited in war zones, the Small Ships Section was granted a special exemption allowing it to hire non-union labour.[20] Sheridan Fahnestock went to Cairns in July to personally oversee the establishment of a base there, and bases were subsequently established in Townsville, Port Moresby and Milne Bay.[21]

Operations

The small ships began leaving Sydney and sailing to Northern Australia in July 1942.[22] In October, they were ordered to Milne Bay in support of the Battle of Buna–Gona.[23] Mactan was anchored in Milne Bay and served as a barracks ship and mess hall for ships' crews between voyages. The north coast of Papua was extremely hazardous. Sailing north of Goodenough Island meant operating at the extreme range of Allied aircraft operating from Port Moresby but within easy range of Japanese aircraft from Rabaul and patrolled by Japanese surface ships and submarines. The rainy season was beginning, so the Owen Stanley Range was often shrouded in dense clouds that made flying dangerous. On the other hand, the waters south of Goodenough were criss-crossed with uncharted reefs and shoals.[24] The latest maps were dated 1895 and new coral formations grew quickly in the warm tropical waters. Colonel Thomas B. Wilson considered it "the most dangerous coastline in the world".[23]

The survey ship HMAS Paluma was given the task of surveying the route from Cape Nelson to Oro Bay and marking it with buoys, beacons and lights. It also located suitable harbours and anchorages and landed shore parties that scouted the hinterland, where they established radio stations and tended to navigational lights emplaced ashore. In October, HMAS Warrego surveyed a safe channel from Milne Bay to Cape Nelson through the Goschen and Ward Hunt Straits. The following month, it was joined by the survey ships HMAS Stella and Polaris. This work eased the task of the small ships, who also made their own charts, and enabled the first large ship, the KPM vessel SS Karsik, to reach Oro Bay on 11 December with a shipment of light tanks for the assault on Buna.[25][26]

On the 18th of October 1942, the Section conducted its first amphibious assault – deploying the 128th Infantry Regiment ashore near Buna.[27] During the Buna–Gona campaign, the small ships delivered three times the tonnage of supplies delivered by air. Between 19 November 1942 and the end of the campaign they delivered 8,560 tons. This was not counting vehicles, tanks and earthmoving equipment, of which the weight was not recorded.[28]

Disbandment

On 8 March 1943, the Small Ships Section became the Small Ships Branch of the Water Transport Division. Bradford, now a lieutenant colonel, became chief of the Water Transport Division and Wright became chief of the Small Ships Branch. The Small Ships Branch was disbanded on 21 August 1943 and its functions were absorbed by the Water Transport Division.[9]

Small ships continued to serve throughout the New Guinea campaign, supporting the Allied advance along the north coast of New Guinea to Biak and Sansapor and ultimately to Morotai.[29] On 10 October 1944, a convoy of tugs towing barges departed Hollandia for the Philippines. It was followed by eight more convoys between October 1944 and February 1945.[30] In December 1944, it was reported that the Australian government directed that Australians serving on small ships could not serve north of the equator. By this time most of the original ships had been relegated to rear areas and only about twenty men were affected.[31] The acting Prime Minister, Frank Forde, quickly clarified that this was a misunderstanding, and the men could continue to serve in the Philippines.[32] Small ships supported the invasions of Leyte, Lingayen Gulf and Cebu, and continued to support American and Filipino guerrilla operations in the Philippines for the rest of the war.[33]

Legacy

Between 1942 and 1945, some 1,372 U.S. Army Personnel and 3,327 Australians served aboard its vessels. There were also seaman from many other Allied countries.[34][6]

In 2009, the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal expanded the eligibility criteria for campaign awards to Small Ships veterans, making them eligible for Australian awards for Australian on the same basis as members of the merchant navy, regardless of whether they had received U.S. awards for the same service.[35] In 2010, the section was inducted into the U.S. Army Transportation Corps Hall of Fame, recognising the pivotal role played by the section in sustaining the Allied liberation of the Pacific.[34] A commemorate plaque now stands at the former site of the section's headquarters at the Grace Building in Sydney.[36]

Notes

  1. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 2–4.
  2. ↑ Babcock 2014, p. 31.
  3. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 10–11.
  4. 1 2 Masterson 1949, p. 192.
  5. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 17–19.
  6. 1 2 Erin, Frick (21 March 2014). "On This Day: The Ragtag Fleet is Born". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Shaw 2017, p. 16.
  8. ↑ Shaw 2017, p. 19.
  9. 1 2 Masterson 1949, pp. 194–195.
  10. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 11–13, 24.
  11. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 22–25.
  12. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 24–25.
  13. ↑ Shaw 2017, p. 30.
  14. ↑ Masterson 1949, p. 571.
  15. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 31–34.
  16. ↑ Gill 1968, p. 280.
  17. ↑ Masterson 1949, pp. 321–324.
  18. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 37, 40.
  19. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 41–42.
  20. ↑ Babcock 2014, p. 33.
  21. ↑ Shaw 2017, p. 48.
  22. ↑ Shaw 2017, p. 49.
  23. 1 2 Masterson 1949, p. 587.
  24. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 70–73.
  25. ↑ Gill 1968, pp. 238–240.
  26. ↑ Masterson 1949, pp. 588–589.
  27. ↑ Killblane, Richard E. Small Ships Section, Southwest Pacific Area of World War II (Report). United States Army Transportation Corps.
  28. ↑ Milner 1957, p. 375.
  29. ↑ Masterson 1949, p. 586.
  30. ↑ Masterson 1949, pp. 605–606.
  31. ↑ "Australians to Return South of Equator". The Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LXVI. Queensland, Australia. 14 December 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. ↑ "Aust. Seamen On U.S. Small Ships". The Courier-mail. No. 3524. Queensland, Australia. 22 December 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ↑ Shaw 2017, pp. 258–259.
  34. 1 2 "Welcome". US Army Small Ships Association Inc. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  35. ↑ Inquiry Into Recognition for Service With the United States Army Small Ships Section (PDF) (Report). Canberra: Australian Government - Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  36. ↑ "United States Army Small Ships Section Memorial". www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2021.

References

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